‘Bristol has a proud tradition of people-led solutions’

Citizens of Bristol have decided overwhelmingly that its council should conduct itself more democratically. From 2024, the mayoral system will be replaced by committees. Now we need to consider how this can work as democratically and effectively as possible.

In the meantime, how is the council to work for the next two years? Surely, at the very least the mayor should no longer be allowed to overrule a majority council decision.

The current number of councillors for each party means that no one world view has a majority, and this presents great opportunities for seeking consensus. More resource should be put into the existing committee system, drawing from the budget currently allocated to the mayor’s office, and power should be increased to allow a wider range of opinions can be brought to bear much earlier in policy development, improving outcomes for residents.

Instead of a poorly resourced scrutiny function – often examining policies and procedures at too late a stage, with limited background info, and with no real prospect of modifying decisions that have already been made – now it should be possible for councillors to have real input into the formation of proposals from first principles. This will surely encourage pragmatic co-operation and minimise party tribalism.

Such an environment will encourage effective problem-solving, which is always better achieved from genuine and open discussion rather than from established pre-set positions, or bland compromise.

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Read more: Bristol votes to scrap mayoral model of governance 

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The council should now be allowed to agree its priorities, across all parties. This is easier than might be thought as there is much common ground across party lines when it comes to our objectives for the city. This broad consensus can act as a basis for fruitful debate about the best ways to deliver for Bristol.

But there is an even bigger prize to be had: real democracy means that the people need to be better informed and more involved in making the decisions for their city. There must be a better conversation between citizens and the council. This might come from citizens’ panels or through the rejuvenation of local decision-making forums like the neighbourhood partnerships, which were scrapped by the current mayor.

We also need to ensure that businesses, charities, and other third party organisations are engaged – as they always have been. But the ‘One City’ structure needs to be reformed so to ensure that it works with the council, not in addition to it.

A cross-party group successfully campaigned to scrap the mayoral system – photo: Betty Woolerton

Bristol has a proud tradition of people-led solutions. So much that the city does, especially around crucial climate change measures, needs to be delivered by all our citizens. It’s vital that such decisions are made with their co-operation and that everyone should feel part of that process.

This will require a different, more collegiate, way of working; breaking down barriers to inclusion and encouraging more views to be heard and incorporated. People should rightly expect their councillors to spend more time on seeking agreement rather than conflict – debate and discussion rather than argument and aggravation.

As well as creating a new, positive, shared vision for Bristol, this new approach will strengthen our position with the West of England Combined Authority – allowing the leader to speak with more authority than a single-party mayor can.

This change is an opportunity to do better than go back to the system before the mayoralty. The people have shown they are up for it – it is time for elected councillors, and the mayor, to embrace the opportunity to shape the future cooperatively.

Anthony Negus says there’s opportunity for a better system of city governance – photo: Ellie Pipe

Anthony Negus is a former Lib Dem councillor and current alderman of the city 

Main photo: Betty Woolerton

Read more: ‘Let’s grasp the opportunity to make a good city for all’

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